The Dissenters

by Lauren M. Flauding

  "What's the North's plan, anyway?"

  "We don't know," Alia answers. "That's the strange thing. It seems like the robots knocked out everyone they could find, and now they're just sitting there, like they're waiting for something."

  "Whatever it is," Liam adds, "the only way we're going to survive is if the Amplifiers are turned back on."

  That is the only way, I think. But no one has the guts to try to do it. Except for me.

  "All right, then," I announce. "Guess I'm headed to the control tower."

  "Mari, don't," Alia pleads.

  "If I don't, then who will?" I ask bluntly. There's no answer. Nobody wants to say it, but it's evident in their expressions. Without their Amplifiers, they have absolutely no confidence in themselves.

  Chapter 26

  I gaze out at the control tower from the building I'm hiding behind, trying to figure out how I'm possibly going to get past the rows and rows of robots surrounding it. Everything is chillingly still. I'm wondering if maybe I can circle behind the building when I hear a small, clinking noise. I glance around until I finally see a tiny girl, probably about three years old, dragging a metal rod against the side of a building as she walks toward the control tower. At the moment she's obscured from the view of the robots, but she's only a few feet away from becoming completely visible.

  I try to get her attention so she'll stop walking forward, but she's oblivious of me and of her impending danger. If I cross over to her I'm positive I'll activate the robots, but I can't just let her get shot. What if the sedative in those guns is too strong for her small body and she dies? Oh well, I think, the chances of me making it into the control tower were slim anyway.

  I take a deep breath then sprint out into the exposed area, shielding my head from the shots that I'm sure are going to come. I reach the little girl and pick her up just as she's nearing the edge of the building. I check myself for any wounds or foreign objects, but there's nothing. Besides being a little shaky, I don't feel any different. The little girl doesn't make a sound, she just looks up at me in surprise.

  I set the girl back down and peek out again at the small army of robots. Not a single one of them has moved. Maybe we're out of their range, I think. Or maybe they've been powered down for now. Whatever the case, I'm not ready to give up all precaution just yet. I turn back to the girl.

  "Where are your parents?" I whisper.

  "They're asleep like everybody else," she answers simply.

  "Do you want to play a game?" I ask. She nods her head vigorously. I cautiously take her around the corner of the building and point to the robots. "Hide from those things," I tell her. "Don't let them see you."

  "Okay," she says, smiling. She very deliberately creeps back along the wall, then slips into one of the entry ways.

  I step cautiously back out into the open space between the buildings. Slowly, I walk toward the control tower, keeping close to the buildings in case the robots suddenly attack. I inch forward until I'm face to face with the terrifying machines. They appear to be made from the same sleek, black material as the air ships. They're all about seven feet tall, with long, spindly legs and guns attached to each arm apparatus. But where a head would be is a short cylinder with a horizontal slit to see out of. To see out of? What am I thinking? They don't have eyes! Just because they look sort of like humans doesn't mean they have human senses. But they must have some kind of sensory mechanism that enables them to shoot people. Maybe they're just awaiting the next command from whoever is controlling them.

  I move through the ranks of robots apprehensively, reaching the entrance without incident. I look back at the motionless machines, wondering if I'm walking into some horrible trap.

  Inside the tower, the scene is even more unsettling. There are dozens of bodies lying on the ground, most of them Restrainers. Robots are standing at various locations throughout the main floor and positioned on every step leading up to the control room where all the transmitters are.

  The climb to the tower's uppermost room is harrowing. Not only am I exhausted after the first hundred steps up the spiraling staircase, but the presence of the robots on each stair is eerie. I almost wish they would move once in a while. Finally, I reach the top floor of the tower. I'm surrounded by windows that look out over the entire, silent city. A narrow, circular hallway separates the windows from the control room, which is situated in the center of the floor. The door is cracked open and guarded by a solitary robot. I approach the room. I can hear two men arguing.

  "You thought you could just come in and take everything? What do you want with all this?"

  "The same thing you want, ultimate control!"

  The first voice is unmistakably the Governor's. The second is low and raspy and altogether unfamiliar.

  "It doesn't work like that," the Governor asserts, "you have to destroy their self-will first. The people in the West are far too strong to succumb."

  "I have my own technology that will solve that problem. Plus," the man adds, "the members of your Community are going to help me."

  "They're people, not machines!" The Governor growls.

  "That's odd, because you haven't been very humane to your Community members these past few months, letting your people starve and working them to death. They'll be better off in the North. I'll take all of their needs away."

  As much as I despise the Governor, this other guy sounds worse. I don't know exactly what his plan is, but if there's any way to stop him, now is probably the best time. I study the weapon on the robot guarding the door. The large gun seems to be screwed into the arm hole. I gingerly twist the gun and it loosens a bit. I continue rotating the gun until it detaches from the robot. Unfortunately, the gun is heavier than I'd anticipated and it slips through my fingers, making a loud, grating sound as it hits the floor.

  The door swings open to reveal a surprisingly short man with a huge gun and a crazed expression. His hair is a bright white color, but he doesn't look that old. Behind him, I see the Governor strapped to a chair with thick cords. He's wearing an odd metallic collar that covers the back of his head.

  "Come here!" The man barks. I find no other option than to comply. I enter the control room and the man grabs my arm and leads me over to Governor Plenaris, who regards me with some interest. I see the transmitter switches on the back wall, four of them, all in the off position and clearly labeled. It's like they were asking to have the Amplifiers shut off; the switches are completely exposed. On the opposite wall are several large screens that intermittently flash to display different locations in the Community.

  "Who is this?" The man asks, addressing Governor Plenaris.

  "That is Marianna Quillen," the Governor answers.

  "How did she get up here? There are about a thousand robots that should have shot her."

  "She is not Amplified," the Governor says with an evil smile. "It was brilliant to program your machines to automatically target the Amplifiers, but you were foolish, Remy, to think that only the Amplified were a threat."

  "Don't call me Remy."

  "Forgive me. General Remington," the Governor snarls.

  "Well, even though she made it past my machines, this girl does not appear to be threatening," General Remington concludes, "so I suppose I'll just continue on with my plan, if you don't mind." He turns around and busies himself with a large remote.

  He's not even going to bind or restrict me, I think incredulously. This guy really must think I'm incompetent. I study the collar the Governor is wearing. It completely covers the area where his Amplifier is embedded, so I assume it's shielding him from being attacked by the robots. I cringe as I realize just how helpful the Dissenters would have been if they came.

  General Remington turns and faces the Governor.

  "I hope you enjoy watching the mass kidnapping of your Community," he snickers as he very deliberately pushes a large, yellow button on the remote. Then he maniacally smashes the remote into the wall, effectively destroying it and any chance of reversi
ng whatever plan he just set into motion.

  At first, nothing happens. Then after a few moments I hear the familiar hum of the air ships approaching. On the screens I see the that the ships are dragging huge, rectangular objects beneath them: cages attached with long chains. I watch as the aircrafts lower the cages to the ground and the robots start picking up unconscious people and loading them into the massive enclosures. General Remington walks over toward the door to see the action out of the windows.

  Suddenly, I have a plan. While General Remington is preoccupied watching his ships, I move slowly behind Governor Plenaris. I check to make sure the angle is right, then I grab the Governor's metal collar and pry it away from his neck.

  "What are you doing?" Governor Plenaris yells. General Remington whips around and points his gun at me, but then his eyes grow wide and he crumples to the ground. Behind him, with it's remaining weapon outstretched, is the robot that was guarding the door. Apparently, it didn't register that someone was in front of the Amplifier it was targeting. The robot advances and raises his weapon again, still sensing the Amplifier. I quickly replace the Governor's collar, and the robot's arm goes slack.

  "How did you know that would work?" The Governor asks.

  "I didn't," I say curtly.

  "Ah, I see."

  The Governor understands that I could care less what happens to him. I don't even know why I didn't just let him get shot; I could have left his Amplifier uncovered. Regardless, there are bigger matters to deal with right now.

  I run over to the transmitter switches on the back wall. For a moment I hesitate. If I turn these back on, I'll go back to being inferior, I think. Right now, everyone is truly equal. The Dissenters would want to keep it this way. But then I look at the screens and see hundreds of people being thrown into cages where they'll be carried off to the North and quite possibly their death. I reach up and turn on all the transmitter switches.

  I rush back to the screens to see what happens. There are several explosions of movement as those who were hiding rush out and begin attacking the robots. It seems they're able to do a little bit of damage, but soon enough they're all shot unconscious. One woman is able to dismantle four robots before she's shot. I see several dozen others who are fleeing the city. They're just running away. The situation is just as hopeless as it was when the Amplifiers were disabled.

  I can't believe it has come to this. At this point, there's only one way to save the Community. I turn to face the Governor. He's smiling. He must know what I'm thinking. Even though it's our only hope, I still have trouble getting the words out.

  "They need an Override."

  Chapter 27

  The Governor tells me where I can find something sharp enough to cut through the cable that's strapping him to the chair. I run to a cabinet in the corner and pull out a large set of shears. It takes a little bit of time to cut through the thick cords, but after a few minutes the Governor is free. He jumps up and unlocks a panel in the wall which contains several silver Override machines.

  "Why don't you just use the one on your wrist?" I ask bitterly, glancing at the silver band he used to almost kill me last year.

  "That only works on individuals and I'd have to call them all by name," he replies coldly as he pulls out one of the machines and sets it on a table. "It would take far too long."

  This is the first time I've been able to see an Override machine up close. The top of the box is covered with buttons, with a large black button in the middle. The Governor unwinds the microphone and faces the screens. He starts pushing buttons and speaking into the microphone.

  "A-101, A-102, A-103, A-104, B-201, B-202..."

  It takes me a minute to realize that he's organizing the city into quadrants and is assigning a button to each section. When he assigns the last button, he pushes the large black button in the middle.

  "Wake up."

  On the screens I see all of the formerly unconscious people open their eyes and jump to their feet. The Governor begins to furiously push different buttons and bark out commands.

  "Advance to nearest robot and force arms upward. Detach weapons from robot. Climb on top of the cage and pull down the air ship... "

  I stop listening to the Governor as his commands start to take effect. I watch the members of the Community begin to dismantle the robots. As some force the arms of the robots upward, they're able to avoid getting shot while others work on taking the robots apart. Other groups of people bring down the airships by collectively pulling down the chains attached to the cages until the ships crash to the ground, usually on top of a swarm of robots. Hundreds of other people are running to the landing park with robots in pursuit. Once the robots are all assembled in the park, someone turns on the massive air turbines and the Community members quickly vacate the area. The turbines whir beneath the park's metal grates and lift the robots into the air. Their heavy, skeletal frames don't allow them to go very high up in the air, but it's enough that when the turbines are abruptly shut off they smash hard into the ground and break into dozens of pieces.

  As much as I hate Governor Plenaris and this whole process, it really is impressive to watch him lead this counterattack. In a matter of minutes, almost all of the robots and air ships are out of commission.

  "Hm, one got away," the Governor observes with disgust, eyeing one of the screens that displays an airship flying away with cage in tow. He taps several times on the screen, enlarging the image. There are only a few people in the cage, but my heart sinks as I recognize one of them. Alia is apparently being taken to the North.

  ____________

  "We have disposed of General Remington, sir."

  "Good."

  "And we have confirmed that 4 people were abducted by the North's airship."

  "Thank you, Seltzson," the Governor says as he takes the report from the wiry Restrainer and dismisses him.

  I've been sitting in the control room for the last hour watching the chaos subside. Restrainers have been coming in and out to report to the Governor and receive instructions. I haven't tried to leave. Partly because I'm numb, but also because I'm fairly certain the Governor wouldn't let me.

  "What will happen to them?" I ask sullenly.

  "To those who were taken? Who knows?" The Governor responds blandly. "General Remington has always been very unstable, so I couldn't say what his plan might have been. But so far, the North hasn't directly killed anyone, so I wouldn't worry."

  "How do you know General Remington?"

  "That is not your concern," he replies shortly. He glances back at the report. "We'll see what we can do about retrieving them."

  I try to take hope in his assertion, but he says it with so little conviction that I highly doubt if he'll make any effort to find them. What will happen to Alia? Will I ever see her again? Sure, maybe they won't kill her, but the way General Remington was talking about control and technology, I'm wondering if death might be preferable to what's in store for her.

  I'm so lost in my thoughts about Alia that I almost don't notice that I'm alone with the Governor and he's just closed the door. I suddenly get very nervous.

  "Well, Miss Quillen," the Governor says, circling around behind me, "once again, you've put me in quite a predicament. On one hand, you broke into my house several weeks ago, stole capsules from me, and destroyed my security."

  I open my mouth to defend myself, but the Governor gives me a severe look and continues. "However, you have performed an invaluable and impressive service to the Community tonight." I'm sure you didn't do it for me, but it's clear that you still have some loyalty to this Community.

  He stands in front of me and looks me in the eyes. "I'm going to give you another chance to become a Restrainer."

  Oh no, here we go again, I think. I shouldn't be surprised though, the Governor wouldn't pass up an opportunity to have me under his thumb.

  "And if I decline?"

  "You'll go to prison," he replies lazily. "You are, after all, a criminal, and we can't have
someone as volatile as you left to themselves."

  Great, I think. I just have to decide how I want to lose my freedom.

  Suddenly the door bursts open and a very muscular Restrainer with a black eye rushes in.

  "I told you not to disrupt me!" The Governor barks impatiently.

  "Sir, you'll want to see this."

  The Governor peers past the Restrainer and out the door. An odd, almost gleeful look fills the Governor's eyes.

  "Excellent," Governor Plenaris sneers. "Bring him in."

  I gasp as two very beat up Restrainers struggle into the room, holding Miles between them. When he sees me, his eyes widen.

  "Miles Paxton," the Governor whispers, almost as if the name were holy, "I can't tell you how delighted I am to finally meet the boy who has evaded us for years. You've given me quite a bit of trouble recently. Tell me young man, what brings you to our turbulent city tonight?"

  "I came for her," Miles answers, gazing at me with an expression of pure sincerity. I feel the hopelessness of the situation pressing in on me. It wasn't Blaine who drove the tractor here, it was Miles. Miles who disobeyed Roxy's order to leave the base and come find me, Miles who has now been found and arrested.

  Miles turns to face the Governor, and his face changes to a look of bitter hatred.

  "I came for her," he repeats, spitting out the words. "She was our prisoner and she escaped, no doubt to help you save your precious Amplification system." I've never seen Miles so outraged. But I can't blame him. This is the first time he's facing the man responsible for the deaths of everyone in his family. The man who has seemingly taken away everyone he loves. He must be angry with me too, thinking I've betrayed him and the Dissenters. He risks his life and freedom to find me, and here I am, sitting alone and unharmed with the Governor. And yet Miles is still protecting me. I want to scream, I want to tell him the truth, but nothing I could say right now would save Miles.

  "Interesting," the Governor comments, studying me. "Well, Mr. Paxton, your prisoner has in fact helped me reinstate the Amplifiers and save the Community. I'm sure that will be devastating news for your organization. But luckily, you won't have to relay that information to them. I have a special... facility just for you in our prison."